2024 DCM Mentored Novices Thread

Mantis Toboggan

Well 3 days on and the body is on the mend. It still hasn't fully sunk in as if you'd said to me 12 months ago I'd run a marathon next year nobody including me would believe you.

My top goal for the race was to run inside 4hr's 30 - the last 5 weeks of training had gone well and the injuries had dried up so I was fairly confident I could achieve it.

So it was baffling to me to wake up on the Saturday morning with two painful hips and the left one more so like I'd done the hip flexor. I initially thought it might be maranoia but the pain got worse throughout the day. It was such a downer and I think I was in shock 😮 couldn't believe what was happening and spent the day on anti inflammatories stuck to heat packs. I was googling other marathons as at that stage I couldn't see myself running one the next day.

An early 5am run on the Sunday morning and luckily it had improved and with all the training in the bag I at least had to give it a go. So all packed in like sardines on a slow Luas didn't actually get into town until near 9am and went straight for the start line. The crowds in wave 4 were insane, I probably made the mistake of not pushing up higher before the gun went because the first 10k was very congested and I was clipped from behind and was lucky not to fall. Thankfully running seemed to be less painful than walking.

Once we got to Castleknock it opened up a bit and was able to pick up the pace a bit. The support was fantastic and really helped to drive everyone on. I sailed through the first half relatively easy but from here on i did start to feel it a little. By 30K I was starting to cramp up and those few hills around 33-35 k were very tough and I walked up heartbreak hill. While energy was low at this stage I don't think I hit the wall. Kept trucking on but was having to stop every KM to stretch as I was cramping everywhere, calf, hamstring, groin and I was having a lot of foot pain.

Last few KM's were a struggle but the crowds on Northumberland road really helped and was great to see my wife and parents there to cheer me on. Such relief to cross that finish line as there wasn't much left in the tank. Chip time 4:23:22 so I have to be happy with that. All in it was a great experience and whether on not I run another one I can always i've been there and got the t-shirt!

Thanks again to this thread for all the support and guidance, it really did pay off in the end.

ILikeBoats

The legs are feeling back to normal today. Great being able to get up and down the stairs without pain!

The Black Oil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122781962#Comment_122781962

Think someone in Nike must have done Chicago (they uploaded this 2 weeks ago).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cur3b5NX_nk

mossiepark

Today, is the first day I'm considering a run. Too soon maybe?

nullObjects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122782647#Comment_122782647

I get the feeling my parkrun will be swamped with Dublin Marathon bobble hats :)
My legs are starting to feel normal, I might do a slow parkrun and give them this week to recover

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122782647#Comment_122782647

If you're up for it, it can't hurt. Just keep it super easy and relaxed, listen to your body.

I'm just back from my first run since Sunday, 30 min super easy and it was nice tbh. stiff here and there but all part of the healing journey.

TheRef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122782647#Comment_122782647

I went for my first run today and like crisco, a few things to work out.

Also just to say that after my first marathon 2 years ago, the following Saturday doing nothing untoward, I badly strained my calf and was out for 3 weeks.

SuspectZero

Just keep them short and super easy as crisco said. You'd be amazed how long it takes to fully recover from a marathon effort. Even the cream of the crop elite runners will usually take 2 weeks off, then an easy two weeks after. Definitely no long and/or hard efforts until at the least 3+ weeks after

Sunny Dayz

how are the bodies feeling now a few days after the marathon?

Don’t put yourself under any pressure to go for a run. Or feel you have to go for a run because others are.
Only since yesterday evening am I now not reminded every time I get up or down off a seat or up or down the stairs that I did a marathon! Even if the legs feel better, your body has still been under stress and pressure.
Any running done should be very easy at recovery pace. Let your body recover. They used to say take a rest day for every mile raced but not sure that is applied anymore.
For myself last year I don’t think I ran til later in November. I needed a break mentally from training and running, also I had a busy few weeks of work. When I did start back running, that first week or two did feel hard.

SimpleDimple

Like the others have said I would nearly consider a nice slow 3 miler… actually now that the training is over I might go back to thinking in km’s 😄

While my legs feel like they’re recovering, I’m still knackered mentally in a way. I can’t believe we all ran marathons less than a week ago! I don’t think I’ll run next year, but am thinking in 2026 I’ll aim for another one. I learned a great bit in this race so would like to apply some of that next time.

Mantis Toboggan

New found appreciation for people who run consecutive marathons like Spencer Mathews or that women who has ran 1000 marathons, I've no idea how they do it.

comanche_cor

Got out on the bike this morning. The body is still tired for sure.

Have been feeling good all week with the thoughts of a run creeping in since Wednesday. Will head to the local park run tomorrow and show off the finisher's top and bobbly hat :)

Dubdude

First marathon for me and well it was quite different to what I had hoped for.

I set off with the 3.30 pacers as I have done a good bit of the training sessions at a 5min pace. Everything was going great talking away with friends and enjoying everything from the DJ in the park to the band in Castleknock and just taking it all in. Headed back into the park and the crowds where great, we start the decline to head back out of the park and time for a quick pee, everything was fine until somewhere along Sarsfield / Inchicore road, I had start to feel a bit of cramping pain in my hamstrings and then all of a sudden boom cramps had kicked in. I had done everything by the book plenty of food, electrolytes and fluids and I still honestly do not know how it happened. I had to make my way to the side of the road to stretch it out. From here on it was a struggle, I mean I had roughly 24k left and to deal with this meant I could not soak up the rest of the atmosphere and enjoy the day.

I had considered leaving a few times but with so many people along the route telling me not to give up each time I stopped to stretch they really got me through it. Even dealing with cramping I had hit the 30k mark at 2hr30min and that is where it got worse. I had start to get cramps in my quads, I mean cramps that I have never had in my life and completely locked up. So many people helping and telling me to stretch, rub and shake the muscle, even the most kindest woman at one of the water stations sprayed my quads and hamstrings with deep heat but this didn’t really do much for me. I struggled along and finally got to the home stretch where a nice female Garda suggest I just shuffle along to get to the finish line which I did and I got home with a chip time of 3.51.53.

Looking forward to next year already hopefully injury free and no cramping.

Well done everyone.

TOYO

First marathon for me also also and still euphoric from the whole run day experience :)

I went back to what I'd answered in my ealier posts and I came in 4:37 without stopping and felt comfortable on it. Once I finished though it was a different story the lags started to cramp almost instantly.

• What do you want to achieve? Dream finishing time and realistic finishing time? Or just complete it in no specified time?

• I want to run the entire marathon no stopping accept for the bathroom if needed :)

• Dream time would be 4:30 but probably more likely to be closer to the 5hrs

I was a little panicked having arrived into the city for 8:15 for a Wave 4 - 9:45 start when there were others kinda running to the bag drop area, but I reminded myself others were going in different waves so probably not a concern for me, but that comes into the inexperience of the day and maraphobia.

Found I had toilet stage fright so I had to let others pass me in the queue but knew I didn't want to leave it till out on the course so i just took the time in the recurring queue to try to chill and gather myself mentally.

I found some of the climbs in the first half around some parts of the Pheonix park and Kilmainham to be most difficult and Heartbreak Hill didn't figure for me. Then again I had three different pockets of supporters on Roebuck so it completely distracted me and I was at the top before I knew it. Took some sugary lucozade on the Merrion decline to get me home which I think was a mistake because I started getting some tummy cramps shortly after - a little bit nauseaus. I'd only ever taken water/dyhoralyte and jelly babies and shouldn't have deviated. Anyway it passed off again thankfully The only other issues were the last 300metres where my little toes stated to cramp but once I had the finish line in my sights I used that to propel me forward and run through it.

Soaked up the crowds, high five'd the kids, might have looked like a complete loon for waving at strangers but I loved it all. I can see why folks do it on repeat and I'm kinda tempted to go again but methinks park run is a safer place joints wise for me…… I'll work on my pace for those now and set new targets for my running future.

Can't thank @Sunny Dayz and all the runners here for their tips and words of reassurance and support - well done to everyone for sharing their journeys also, as a solo runner it meant a lot to hear others trials and tribulations along the way so big THANKYOU 👏 we did it!!!

rosenallis

Hey all,

Just back after a week's recoup and said i'd do a write up, as much for myself!

Found the whole experience brilliant. I look back on where I came from fitness wise and to so i'm happy to have such structure over the month's/ weeks to get me through. The training wasn't too bad - was happy every week on long run as it was always

Pre-race

: I had a good plan on carb loading and eating in the days leading up, so i was happy where that got me to. I think that contributed in me having energy to get around the whole way withouth stopping, which was the big aim for me.

: On the morning of i didn't realise how long a trek to the start, and from drop off to entrance. I easily walk 2-3 miles with all of that which was fine, but i didn't account for it

: Bag drops etc all good and was ready to go

Because i drank so much in days and morning leading up, the toilets were where i had to go before i started. Felt most of my time was spent in the qs! On the course i didn't realise how easy it could have been to pop into portaloos

: getting to my area was striaghfoward but to be honest i wasn't really sure where to join the group. i sort of hopped the barrier and jumped in close to the 4.00 baloons i had grand ambitions to try and hit!

The Race

: The first 5 miles I loved. All on roads i never ran before and just was so nice to run in and around the city. Slight negative was just some people arond me who were all over the place jumping to say hello to supporters and running across people. I nearly tripped a couple of times with them

: Phoenix Park - Half Way i found a bit of a trudge, apart from the supporters areas which were brilliant! I'll talk about my pace later, but i think this is where i maybe went a bit too slow. I read so much about Phoenix Park drag, but when i ran it it didn't seem so bad!

: Dolpins Bard - Walkinstown: Again, a bit of a trudge but i was comfortable. Had a gel every 3 miles and a sweet every mile. The tailwind that @TheRef suggested was brilliant. I kept sipping that

: Walkinstown - Milltown: This is where i hoped to kick on to marathon pace. I was feeling fine, I had run what i felt was that pace in a 3/4 marathon previously. I had the 4.00 baloons about 1 mile ahead of me in my sites so felt i could make ground on them. I ran mile 14 ok - but i just couldn't maintain the pace. My lungs were ok, my heartrate was fine, my legs just felt like they couldn't move fast enough. It was dissapointing!

Milltown - UCD: I knew i wasn't going to hit under 4.00 so i settled into a pace that just got me around and i was very conscious of when people said the pain begins to come from mile 20. I really didn't know how last number of miles and Roebuck hill would hit me - so i was on the side of caution, probably too much!

UCD: Finish: I was fine doing this, the wall or hell never came, which i put down to the eating and fuelling as i went through ( i couldn't take any more Bloxx/ drinks after 17 miles but felt i had enough then)

The finish was brilliant, very enjoyable running through that crowd. My wife was just on the corner of the 26 mile at Pepper Cannister. (Another runner in front of me collapsed, and muscles seems to be convulsing - i had hoped to see if he was ok but can't find information. It scared my wife and scarred kids seeing it)

Got over the line in 4.08.57

All in all, i'm happy. I've finished a marathon that i put a lot of work into training for and i got around without stopping. That to me is a great achievement, looking back on when i started 20 weeks ago. But…… can't help but feel a slight bit dissapointed i wasn't closer to 4.00 and I don't really know why i couldn't be in the mix for it. It all felt like i didn't push myself enough, but when i tried to - i couldn't do it. My heartrate was at a fine level the whole way through and i was barely out of breath coming to close. I put it down to maybe listening too much to when people commented on going slow for first 10 miles and leaving something in the tank for later. I also really never nailed my pacing - the difference between running 09/.00/ 09.15/09.30 per mile is hard to judge for me no matter how hard i try. I think with experience, the first uphills through the park were maybe easier that i expected and i should have taken them on more to put me in a position at Walkinstown to push more.

So all in all - I am happy, not over the moon, and with a minor sense of 'what could have been', which when the email comes through will probably prompt me to sign up again next year. I wish i could point to hitting the wall/ no fitness/ injury to really help me pinpont what i should have done differently to push on a bit more.

My other learning is that there's a small sense of loss of purpose now! Didn't expect to feel a bit low after it is over. Train for 20 weeks for something, then it's gone so it's a strange feeling after the high. If there was one before Christmas i would be tempted to keep training and going!

Bigger picture is it couldn't have been done in years gone by and thank you to the mentors here and @Sunny Dayz for helping so much over the months.

Louis 2018

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122798526#Comment_122798526

Very good summary of your day, well done to you that's a very very good time for marathon no.1.

Don't be too hard on yourself, it's always better to be on the side of 'what could have been' than regret . You now know how to run a marathon, and if you run Dublin next year you will run it very differently. I think you were right to hold back in PP as that stood to you later in the race especially the fact you didn't stop at all.

The Black Oil

Here's the perspective of one of the 5 hour pacers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1djNmUxVFUg

nullObjects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122799835#Comment_122799835

The bit with the balloons coming out of the portaloos :)

slingerz

is it the case that we get into the marathon next year now without a lottery?

TheRef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122825879#Comment_122825879

Yep. The invite will come out next Monday. You going again?

slingerz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122826038#Comment_122826038

I said never again but I’ve a bit of a feeling like I didn’t do myself justice at the same time.

I have to say though the wave setup is a disaster and I would have to be in the earlier waves if I was going again

Trampas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122836494#Comment_122836494

There was a mistake with mixing wave 3 and 4 but people should be in the wave they time area they intend to finish in and not be in earlier waves so they start early and finish early. These people can create incident as someone can be running 25% faster or more running behind them.

Mantis Toboggan

Fair play to anyone signing up again, I'd do it if I had the time but I don't think the wife would allow it, maybe in a few years.

slingerz

I don’t agree to be quite honest. The last few miles for me I might as well have been out in the wilds of Connemara the only support was the Gardaí or odd volunteer at junctions. The support of the crowds is selling point for the marathon and it should be for all

CWF

Hey all sorry to restart an old thread, just wondering is there going to be a 2025 iteration?

nullObjects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123573732#Comment_123573732

It was being discussed at the end of the 2025 marathon thread too if you wanted to subsrcibe:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058404932/dublin-marathon-2025

Sunny Dayz

Hello to all the 2024 DCM graduates!

I’ve not been on Boards in a number of months and was made aware that there was chat about Novices for 2025. If one of last year’s novices (or anyone else) would like to mentor this year’s crew, please drop me a dm and I can explain how it works, send on some info and help in any way over the next 4 months.

It would be a shame if the annual DCM novice threads fell by the wayside. The threads have helped and supported so many people in their first marathon training block. And It was a privilege to mentor last year.